Culture Compass

The culture compass in Aotearoa is firmly pointed towards the North East right now as the nation awaits the grand arrival of the Matariki cluster. Throughout the motu there are events and celebrations to honour the Māori New Year, some of which were highlighted in our last Culture Compass column. In the name of Hiwaiterangi, the Matariki star associated with aspirations, wish fulfilment and looking to the future, this week’s arts and culture breakdown provides some options for how to spend the days, weeks and months ahead.

Auckland’s F.O.L.A. (Festival of Live Art, June 11-14) is fleeting. It’s on now for a brief but impactful four days of rebellious, non-conformist art and performance that centres BIPOC and queer communities. While the festival is skewed towards more complex themes for mature audiences, A Rain Walk is an inclusive event for everyone. It’s a free audio-experience in which participants are invited to take a walk through Auckland city while listening to the voices of New Zealand and Australian children. Created by UK artists, it’s best enjoyed in the rain, which Tāmaki Makaurau is usually happy to provide. There are 18 other shows across the festival that push boundaries, invite reflection and questioning, confront the status quo and explore the limits of creativity.

Somewhere between the questions the filmmakers ask, the words the subjects say, the images the cinematographers capture and the clips the editors choose to use, lies the truth of a story. And the joy of documentary film is in deciphering that truth through your own messy lens.

The Doc Edge Festival

This year the Doc Edge Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary of bringing thought-provoking, challenging, fascinating and wildly entertaining documentaries to Aotearoa from here and around the globe. The festival starts on June 25 in Auckland and July 16 in Wellington and Christchurch, with the Virtual Cinema launching July 28. It’s a stunning collection of films with subjects running the gamut from online money-making gurus to fishermen in the contested West Philippine Sea to the women at the vanguard of climate science in Antarctica to a dating camp in China. Pore over the programme and plan some doc dates.

Auckland Festival of Photography

June in Tāmaki Makaurau brings with it the annual Auckland Festival of Photography. The festival is well underway with galleries and public spaces hosting exhibitions since mid-May. Two Rooms, The Arts House Trust, Helensville Art Centre, Northart and Te Oro are among the galleries hosting exhibitions that run until the end of the month. And this week, at Myers Park Caretaker’s Cottage circa 1853, Kirk Lafferty’s unique exhibit Arrivals and Departures opened. The entirety of the exhibition is contained within a book. It’s a collection of images documenting the people and places of Karangahape Road gathered over a decade, with accompanying stories, and is a meaningful record of an eclectic community.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s exhibition Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua is also part of the Auckland Festival of Photography, though it’s not the sole reason to make a visit. The gallery has just opened A Century of Modern Art, a comprehensive exhibition of 57 paintings by 53 artists who “changed the course of art history.” It’s on loan from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, and includes works by Cezanne, Degas, Matisse, Manet, Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh among others – a truly rare opportunity to see such a significant collection of modern art here in Aotearoa.

Illusionist Anthony Street

Trickery and bamboozlement aren’t usually the ingredients for a fun night out unless illusionist Anthony Street is involved. The Australian performer who began as a Celtic dancer, performing professionally with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, is touring Aotearoa next month with his new show Illusionist Anthony Street. He’s performing in 22 locations across the country with a show that blends illusions, magic tricks, his own life story, and audience participation. It’s whānau-friendly, kicking off in Napier on July 6 in the school holidays and tiki touring around the country, with the final show on August 10 in Queenstown

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Opportunities to see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo here in Aotearoa are rare. It’s been 10 years since their last visit when they performed in Wellington but next year they’re returning to perform three mammoth shows at Eden Park. An impressive spectacle, the show – The Heroes Who Made Us – celebrates the Tattoo’s 75th anniversary and will feature stirring Scottish bagpipes, massed military bands, Tattoo Dancers, and international performers from around the world, including some of our own. In total, more than a thousand performers will take part in the stadium show, which will no doubt be a rousing one-of-a-kind production.